campus-suicides-dreams-die-young

Campus suicides in India have come to acquire a macabre sense of déjà vu. Every death is a cry in wilderness; a silent scream that should haunt us collectively as a nation.

 

They come as a grim reminder of the ineffectiveness of the existing legal and institutional framework in addressing mental health concerns of students on campuses and preventing them from resorting to the extreme step of taking their own lives.

 

Behind the veneer of glamour and prestige associated with the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) — the dream destination for the country's youth — lies a disturbing reality: high rate of student suicides. After clearing one of the toughest competitive tests in the world, students step into these campuses, dreamy-eyed and full of hope and optimism, but what they eventually go through is something that the society never bothers to find out.

 

Post-coaching burnout, a grading system that reinforces toxic competitiveness, relentless academic demands and a culture marked by caste and gender-based discrimination combine to make their lives miserable.

 

Not all will be equipped to handle the stress. Unfortunately, some crack up. These tragedies are largely preventable. But, the efforts of the authorities have so far been patchy, ritualistic and ineffective.

 

The official figures paint a grim picture: The IITs have witnessed 127 suicides between 2005 and 2024. IIT Madras recorded the highest number of 26 student suicides, followed by the IIT Kanpur (18), IIT Kharagpur (14), IIT Guwahati (13), IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi reporting 10 suicide cases each. Last year, the Union Ministry of Education informed the Parliament that at least 33 student suicides were reported from IITs during the period January 2018 to March 2023.

 

Maternal touch

 

Against this grim backdrop, the IIT-Kharagpur’s proposal to launch “Campus Mothers” initiative — appointing female mentors from among the women residing on campus, both faculty and non-faculty, to provide informal emotional support to students — comes as a welcome move. The volunteers will be trained to provide emotional support and mentorship to distressed students. They will receive orientation and training in counselling and related skills.

 

Such compassionate intervention allows students to express themselves in ways that a mechanised chatbot simply can’t match — there are limits to what technology can do.

 

Also read: Time to stop custodial brutalities

 

Many more such initiatives are needed to address an alarming trend where the mental health crisis on campuses has become a tragic thread in a widening pattern of student distress.

 

Though questions are being raised in some quarters over gender stereotyping inherent to “Campus Mothers” programme, such nit-picking must be avoided. Any initiative that sincerely seeks to address the crisis must be welcome.

 

The IIT-Kharagpur’s idea shows a growing acknowledgement within elite institutions that student well-being can no longer be treated as an afterthought. In this year alone, Kharagpur campus has reported three student suicides.

 

The initiative has been conceived as an additional layer of social intervention to buttress formal mental-health services. Meaningful engagement can build trust and a sense of belonging, especially for first-generation learners venturing out into the world on their own.

 

Institutional failures

 

What is more appalling is that the student suicides are reduced to cold statistics and the society is becoming increasingly numb to these tragedies.

 

High expectation for excellence, peer pressure, inability to cope with punishing schedules, little or no personal interaction with the faculty, isolation and loneliness, caste discrimination, uncertainty about campus placements, relationship and family issues are among the factors responsible for the rise in campus suicides.

 

According to a report “Student Suicides: An Epidemic Sweeping India”, which draws from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, student suicides are rising at a rate faster than overall suicide trends and disproportionately affecting the Dalit, the Adivasi, and the OBC students. These deaths are not personal tragedies alone; they are institutional failures rooted in caste-based exclusion, academic alienation, and administrative apathy.

 

Also read: Social media double-edged — can support or undermine democracy

 

A flexible curriculum, continuous assessment methods, and structured support for managing backlogs can go a long way to reduce academic stress. For those who come from economically and socially marginalised backgrounds, and who often face discrimination, support groups are essential. And cultural sensitivity training should be made mandatory for all with strict anti-discriminatory policies on the campus.

 

There is an urgent need for a more robust, comprehensive, and responsive mechanism to address the various factors that compel some students to commit suicide. Mental health awareness camps, 24X7 availability of counsellors, teachers, buddy system all should be part of a supportive system.

 

A whopping 61 per cent of IIT students believe that academic stress is one of the main factors leading some of them towards such extreme steps, while 12 per cent held employment insecurity responsible, 10 per cent had family issues and 6 per cent complained of harassment, according to a survey.

 

Fix accountability

 

It is important to fix accountability in the IIT system and recommend remedial steps to the IIT Council to prevent the emerging mental health crisis in the premier institutes.

 

Also read: Belonging nowhere: Indian children born in the Gulf

 

The government should set up a centralised commission of inquiry comprising independent experts comprising psychiatrists, psychologists, legal people, social activists, and police to probe past suicide incidents. Importantly, no IIT directors or professors should be on the proposed commission. Performance pressure, bullying, and casteist slurs often lead to mental health issues among students when they fail to measure up to high-performance standards.

 

Structural reforms

 

A 12-member expert committee, set up by IIT Delhi in March last year, had recommended sweeping structural campus reforms that include a rethink on CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point Average) as the sole success metric; choosing more empathetic campus leaders; strengthening faculty-student ties; mandatory civic learning to reduce bias; and greater administrative responsiveness to student concerns. One hopes these recommendations are implemented in letter and spirit.

 

A friendly environment must be ensured where students can enhance their ability to cope with anxiety and depression. Also, there must be a provision for psychological support to students for their mental and emotional well-being. There is also a dire need to train students in communication and other soft skills. The absence of these skills is a key reason why many IITians leave the campus, unemployed.